The Price
by EroSlackerMicha
Summary: Naruto is dying, he has five years left. A sad one-shot that will bring tears.


**The Price**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto Uzumaki. He along with the assorted cast of characters belong to Kishimoto. If I did own Naruto, Sasuke would be a footnote instead of taking up eighty percent of the story and plot.

XX

"Finally." The battered and bruised Naruto Uzumaki stood before the gates of Konoha.

The battle against Madara Uchiha had come down to something so simple that Naruto had been shocked his desperation move had worked.

It had taken him a week to return to Konoha after several months away and now all he wanted now was to rest and be around people who were precious to him.

"Halt!" a voice called out getting a tired smile from Naruto as he hadn't moved in nearly three minutes.

A pair of Chunin appeared and Naruto blinked. "Hey Konohamaru. Hanabi." Naruto said.

"NARUTO!" Both echoed and he winced as they both launched themselves at him giving him rib-cracking hugs. "It's been months, we thought…" Konohamaru began.

"Can't you send a simple letter saying you're fine?" Hanabi demanded.

"Not really." Naruto said.

Hanabi took a moment to study him. "Naruto…"

"I need to speak with Lady Tsunade he said cutting her off." He gave her a look and she nodded in understanding.

"Welcome back." She said lowly while Konohamaru signed the book that Naruto was entering. "You were missed."

Naruto nodded and slowly walked into the gates of Konoha, his limp slight as he was careful to hide it from the pair of Chunin.

XX

Naruto finally arrived at the Hokage's Tower and stopped before taking a breath to climb the stairs. He'd ignored the looks from the villagers, many looked shocked to see him after all this time.

He reached the administration level and entered the corridor that would take him to the familiar office.

He stopped outside the door seeing Shizune at the secretaries desk. He saw her pregnancy was further along than when he'd last seen her. A twinge of guilt assailed him as he thought of her baby growing up without its father. _Kami, why did Kakashi-sensei have to die?_ He thought sadly of another person who had died.

As if sensing his thoughts Shizune looked up and gasped. "Naruto!"

She was out of the chair as fast as a eight month pregnant woman could and he found himself being hugged tightly once more.

"Oh thank Kami, you're alive."

He gave her a gentle squeeze, even as she cried into his chest.

The door to the Hokage's office opened. "Shizune? Are you alright I thought I heard…" Tsunade stopped seeing her first apprentice hugging a very battered looking Naruto.

"Naruto."

"Hey Baa-chan…" he said and found it hard to speak as there was a lump in his throat. "I've got a lot to tell you." He said even as the older blond engulfed him in a tight hug. For what felt like an eternity neither woman let him go and he just had an arm around each as they sobbed.

XX

"You killed him?" Tsunade asked as they were sitting in their office twenty minutes later.

"It was close." Naruto said sitting in a chair. Shizune had gone to get supplies to heal the blond while he gave his report.

"Why isn't the fox healing you? It's been a while since your fight." Tsunade asked taking in his appearance once she'd calmed down.

Naruto looked away and sighed.

"Madara ripped the Kyuubi out of me over a month ago." Naruto said.

"But…" Tsunade said looking at him.

Naruto nodded and watched as the older blond cried. "But then how?"

Naruto looked out the window and sighed.

"Immortality is against the laws of heaven, even gods die." He said after a moment. "Madara was an affront to Heaven." Naruto looked at his bandage wrapped hands. "The Shinigami was not pleased with his escaping his death, so we made a deal." Naruto's blue eyes looked haunted.

"I would be given a chance to return to life, to kill Madara and once I had accomplished that…" he took a deep breath and sighed. "I have five years to set my affairs in order before the Shinigami comes to collect me."

Tsunade was out of her chair and had him in a hug. "Tell me it's a lie…"

Naruto shook his head. "I have five years before I die at twenty-five."

Tsunade broke down crying and this is how Shizune found them when she returned with medical supplies.

XX

"What do you mean no?" The Fifth Hokage demanded.

"They don't need to know." Naruto said.

"They're your friends." Tsunade said.

"There is no fighting this Baa-chan. I've been given a chance to say goodbye." Naruto said even as Shizune cried into his shoulder. Once she heard that Naruto was going to die in five years she hadn't stopped sobbing.

"I don't accept this." Tsunade said. "I can't lose you too."

The death of her fiancé and her brother broke her. the death of Jiraiya had aged her harder than the years. The death of Naruto would crush her completely she was certain.

"It is inevitable Tsunade." Naruto said. "I got this extra time to say goodbye." Naruto said looking at the Hokage. "I agreed to the terms that the Shinigami gave."

"Well I didn't!" Tsunade said her anger boiling over. "You can't die. I refuse to let you."

Naruto gave her a sad smile. "Enjoy the time I have left Baa-chan. I don't want my time left filled with anger."

Tsunade looked at him and tears welled up in her eyes. Shizune hugged Naruto tighter, her tears flowing free.

"You can't die…you were going to be Hokage!" Tsunade said grasping for straws.

Naruto shook his head. "My time is past. Besides, Konohamaru will make a fine sixth Hokage." He took a moment to look over at the wall with the pictures of the previous Hokage's.

His gaze resting on the picture first of the Third Hokage who he thought of as his grandfather and then went to the smirking picture of his father, the Fourth Hokage, the man who had began this chain of events.

"I'd like to retire to my family's house and be taken off active duty." Naruto said and the Hokage felt the cold grip in her heart as the blond before her was practically giving up. He was going to await his death with a calm demeanor that should not be seen in one so young.

Tsunade couldn't believe hearing the words that came out of mouth. "I'll have a Genin team sent to open it up and air it out." The whole while her mind was screaming for her to find a cure or a jutsu to stop what she knew would happen.

"Thanks Baa-chan." Naruto stood and gently eased Shizune's grip from him. "I think I'll go have some ramen. See you later." He said and walked out.

Master and apprentice broke down once the door was closed, the body wracking sobs from Tsunade echoed around the office for some time after that.

XX

Naruto smiled as Ayame gave him a spine cracking hug and yelled at her father to start making the Uzumaki special, which brought the ramen chef out and another round of hugs.

"You look like shit boy." Teuchi said.

Naruto grinned softly. "I'll be fine. I just wanted some ramen."

Teuchi nodded and headed to the back to start on the big pot. Ayame looked at him. "Are you really okay Naruto-kun?" she asked.

"I am." Naruto said with a smile. He made the decision not to tell anyone else he was dying. "How are Iruka and little Gail?"

Ayame smiled. "Well you know my husband. He's gone back to teaching at the academy. Make me happy as I don't have to worry about him on a mission."

Naruto nodded at this. Iruka had for a couple years returned to being an operative on the Anbu Black Ops squad that helped Naruto hunt the Akatsuki.

"And my little angel is eager to start school." Naruto smiled. He had been named godfather to Iruka and Ayame's daughter. "She want to be a ninja like her daddy and her Godfather."

Naruto shook his head. "I had nothing to do with it. I just played with her." he sighed. Gail if she joined the academy would be just graduating when Naruto died.

"I tried to get her to follow in your footsteps Ayame-chan. Someone's got to carry on the great tradition of making the best ramen in the world that you and the old man make."

"Buttering up my daughter won't get you free ramen anymore brat. You're not that cute any more." Teuchi said putting the first big bowl down in front of Naruto who smiled and grabbed some chopsticks.

"But I'm only speaking the truth." He said and broke the chopsticks apart. "Itadakimasu!" he said before digging in.

He managed to get several mouthfuls in before he paused as he realized that he would miss this, the closeness with the Ichiraku's.

"Something wrong?" Ayame asked seeing a tear drip from Naruto's eyes.

"No." he said swallowing. "Just realized how much I missed this." He said giving her a watery smile. He dug back in, he took his time eating each and every bowl, savoring the flavors and enjoying the company of two people who were special to him since he was a child.

XX

(Namikaze Estate)

Naruto stood in the foyer of the huge mansion and sighed. "I'm home." He said to the empty house.

He walked further in and saw that Tsunade not only had it cleaned, but she had food stocked and as he explored she even had fresh clothes in his size brought in. Naruto made a mental note to thank her in the morning.

He found his parents room and looked at everything that had been left as it had been the last time his mother and father had been in this room prior to the Kyuubi's attack.

He looked at the pictures as he was finally able to put a face to his mother from the stories Jiraiya had told him while they traveled during his three year training journey.

Naruto spent the next hour talking to a photo of his parents, telling them his life.

"I'll be seeing you both soon…I hope." He said tracing the edge of the photo with a finger. Naruto's one fear was that when he died would be that he would be sent to hell due to his connection to the Kyuubi that he had for his whole life until Madara ripped the Kyuubi out of him.

"Goodnight mom…dad." Naruto said slipping from the room that had been his parents he went to the room down the hall he'd chosen and slipped into the deep sleep, unable to awaken from the nightmares that plagued him even now.

XX

Naruto was walking one of the many streets when a slender hand came from out of nowhere and grabbed him by his shirt. He smirked as he was pulled face to face with the one who grabbed him.

"Hey Anko." He said in greeting.

"Just the person I wanted to see." Said the snake Jonin said with a grin. After he returned from his training trip with Jiraiya he got to know the woman better after they were paired on several missions and found that she kept a front up that kept most people away.

"About damn time you returned." Anko said looking at him. She took in the bandages over various parts of his body that weren't covered by clothes and he saw the question in her eyes.

"I'm fine, really." Naruto said. "What do you need?" he asked and Anko gave him a grin.

"Well, I'm kinda short today and…" Anko began and bit her bottom lip in a way Naruto had always found cute.

"And you want me to buy you lunch at the Amaguriama." He finished and smiled at her grin.

"I'll pay you back after I get a mission…"

"No problem, my treat." Naruto led her down the street towards the dumpling hut and smiled seeing his friend act like a girl instead of one of Konoha's deadliest interrogators.

XX

Anko sat eating her dumplings, Naruto watched a smile on his lips as he got to see one of Konoha's deadliest women acting so silly and over dumplings no less. She was sitting on the bench swinging her legs back and forth. Her long tan jacket was sitting next to her folded over the bench she had her eyes closed as she munched on her dumplings while making sounds of pleasure that Naruto was finding hard not to shift to keep his pants loose.

"Something wrong blondie?" Anko asked with a teasing grin and Naruto knew that she knew exactly what she was doing to him.

"Nope." He said.

"Oh…really?" she asked with a sultry purr in her voice. And Naruto made the mistake of looking right at her as she put the skewer with a dumpling in her mouth. He swallowed hard as she teased it with her tongue.

"See something you like?" she purred.

Naruto swallowed. "Why is it women always ask questions when they already know the answer?"

Anko actually giggled. It wasn't the girlish giggle of an Ino or Sakura, but a giggle that caught his full attention.

Anko for her part dragged the empty skewer from her lip slowly, then her neck and it hit the mesh top she was famous for wearing.

"You know brat, we've known each other for nine years." Anko began.

"Yeah, meeting you as the psycho exam lady was a memory I'll never forget." Naruto offered.

She smiled as she remembered their first meeting as well.

"You were such a loud brat back then."

"And you were a blood crazed psycho lady." Naruto returned with a warm grin.

"I've mellowed." Anko agreed. "But there are still some things I crave." She gave him a look and Naruto understood it, he did spend three years with Jiraiya and a lot of the time his master spent was in brothels.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Anko's answer was to lean over and give him a slow sensual kiss. When she pulled back "Does that answer any question you have stud?"

XX

(Hokage Tower)

Sakura entered the outer office, surprised to see Shizune's desk empty. She hoped that the other woman was alright.

_Cha, with Kakashi-sensei's death she's been all alone except for Master Tsunade and myself._ Sakura thought sadly of her former sensei and his death.

Shaking her head she raped on the door and entered the office only to freeze seeing Shizune asleep on the couch, tear tracks on her cheeks.

Sakura saw Tsuande was at her desk facing the window, an unopened sake jug on the desk.

_Something serious must have gone wrong._ Sakura thought and there was only one thing left in the world that would affect the Hokage like this.

"Lady Tsunade?" she inquired.

The Hokage's amber eyes, bloodshot from crying looked from the window to her second apprentice.

"Nothing for you today Sakura. Just put in some hours at the hospital." Tsunade said, her voice sounded flat and Sakura felt something crawl up her spine. "Sensei…what's wrong? What happened? Did you hear about Naruto? Is he okay?"

At this a tear slipped from the Hokage's eye, she wiped it away angrily. "That baka is back. He returned late yesterday."

Sakura blinked in the change of tone in her master and wondered what Naruto had done.

"Yesterday? I didn't know." Sakura said, actually surprised that Naruto hadn't sought her out. This seemed to surprise the Hokage as well.

"He must be at his family's estate checking it out." Tsunade muttered.

"Family? Naruto's an orphan." Sakura said. Tsunade looked at her for a moment. "No, Naruto had a family. They died during the Kyuubi's attack. His inheritance has been kept in trust…" she looked away.

"With Akatsuki and Madara Uchiha dead I thought it was safe enough for him to finally have it."

_And what's the point of waiting until he's twenty-one when he's going to die at twenty-five._ The Hokage thought bitterly.

Sakura had so many questions, but the Hokage dismissed her before she could ask anything else.

_Where are you Naruto, and what did you do that upset both Lady Tsunade and Shizune this much?_ Sakura wondered as she headed for the hospital to take a shift, promising that afterwards she would look for her blond teammate.

XX

(Namikaze Estate)

Anko rested against Naruto's bare chest. She saw the marks and wounds and wondered why the fox hadn't healed him like it had in the past. She'd seen it heal worse wounds than this in seconds.

She shivered as Naruto trailed his fingers down her spine with feather light touches.

"What are you thinking?" he asked, his voice low.

Anko smiled. "You improved since your eighteenth birthday." She said looking up at him and grinning.

"We're not done yet." He said and Anko straddled him, her whiskey brown eyes looking at his face, taking in every detail.

"Before we do, you're going to tell me why the baka fox hasn't fixed you up."

"The fox is gone." Naruto said seeing no way out as she had him pinned to the bed.

"What do you mean gone?" Anko demanded and he saw the same fear in her eyes that he'd seen in Tsunade's as he told her the events that led up to him beating Madara Uchiha.

Anko was stunned. "Five years?" she asked and he nodded.

He saw something flip in Anko's eyes, something he wasn't sure what and he watched as she got up, he thought she was going to leave now that she knew he wasn't going to be around in five years. She had her clothes in her hand and he saw her dig in her hip pouch and pull out a vial. She looked at him a moment and weighed something in her mind before breaking the seal and downing the contents.

He didn't get to ask what she'd just taken as she was atop him once more, kissing him for all he had.

When she pulled back he felt her slipping his dick into her and kiss him again. Her hands were busy as one hand fisted his hair, her left hand cupped his cheek as she stopped kissing him, pulling back biting his bottom lip.

"Anko?" he asked as air returned to him, even as she began to slowly rock, stroking him up and down slowly.

"What?" he started to ask, but she put a finger to his lips. "I want this. Its sooner than I was thinking, but I have been thinking about this since our first time together two years ago."

Naruto understood then what she'd taken and what she was doing. She was going to make sure there was something of Naruto Uzumaki around by trying to carry his child. "Anko-hime." He said as she looked at him, the look in her eyes made his heart swell.

She went up and down and Naruto found his hands occupied, one cupped her hip slightly the other had found its way to her breast and was palming it every so often pinching her nipple or thumbing it.

Anko let out a groan as Naruto's lips found her neck and he sucked and nipped her pulse point.

Their bodies moved in the oldest dance in the world and soon they called out one another's names as they experienced the "little death" and Anko collapsed atop of him.

Naruto held her as their breathing returned to normal.

"Is it me or was the best one yet?"

Anko laughed in that husky way of hers. "You ain't seen nothing yet."

Naruto kissed her sweat-covered forehead. "I see a lot more than I used to." he said with a cheeky grin which she returned.

They cuddled for an hour and the pattern continued all night with them making love and cuddling.

XX

The following day over breakfast Naruto groaned at the messenger bird that landed in his window.

"Baa-chan's got something to say." he read the scroll and sighed. "You might as well come along." He told Anko who was finishing her eggs.

"What's up?"

"Baa-chan is going to tell my friends…" he paused and sighed. "I didn't want anyone to know, but I knew I had to tell her."

"And you told me." Anko said.

"And you've gone out of your way to make sure you're pregnant by me."

Anko shrugged. "I believe that Konoha can't get by with out an Uzumaki…or is it Namikaze now?"

Naruto shrugged. "I've been Uzumaki all my life. It was my mother's name and I'll keep it."

"Well, Uzumaki or Namikaze the village would be boned without you in some way. And I don't mean due to missions, but you light up the place." Anko reached up and touched his cheeks so he looked at her. "You saved me, you saw me as someone other than Orochimaru's former apprentice. Only three people before have ever done that."

Ibiki, Kurenai and the Third Hokage.

Naruto kissed the palm of her hand. "Scary how alike we are at times." Naruto said with a soft smile.

"We'd better get dressed then. I don't think Baa-chan would like you showing up in just my shirt or me in my boxers."

Anko sniffed. "So much for being lazy and making love all day."

"There's time…" Naruto said and Anko gave him a look. "There'll never be enough time. This isn't fair."

Naruto sighed. He wanted to rage, but the Shinigami had given him this time to set things in order. But he agreed with Anko. There was never enough time even if he had eternity.

XX

(Hokage's Tower)

The gathered rookies and their sensei's that were still alive were shocked at what the Hokage just told them. The women covered their mouths and looked at Naruto in shock.

"We need to…something." Konohamaru said looking from the boy he considered his friend, rival and big brother to the Hokage. "Couldn't we use the same jutsu the Fourth used and trap…"

"No." Naruto said. "That jutsu costs someone their life and I won't let anyone exchange their life for mine. I agreed to the terms the Shinigami gave me."

Sakura looked at her teammate. "So that's it. You're just giving up?" she said her voice breaking and now she understood why the Hokage and Shizune looked like they had. The sheer hopelessness of the situation rose up and it all looked bleak.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto said, his voice low. "You don't get it. I died. When Madara ripped the Kyuubi out of me, I was dead for days. There was no one there to exchange their life for mine. Yugito and Killer Bee died days before me. We didn't stand a chance."

Naruto spoke of the other two jinchuriki that had met up with him on the assault on Madara's fortress to end this once and for all.

"We were like academy students attacking him in his fortress. He toyed with us and killed us one at a time, taking the tailed demons from us. I fought, I gave it everything I had and he shrugged it off." Naruto looked not at his friends, but out the window.

(Flashback)

"Come on boy, your father was stronger than this and he didn't have the power of the Kyuubi at his command." Madara taunted from the shadows.

"I'll kill you, you bastard!" Naruto grunted as he pulled the poisoned sword from his stomach. He looked into the shadow trying to find the immortal Uchiha.

"Kukukukukukukukuku! Kill me? I am immortal, a god walking the world."

Naruto screamed as a kunai pierced his shoulder, he spun and swiped but Madara had retreated to the shadows once more. "I'll take the Kyuubi from you like I did from the girl."

Naruto looked towards where Yugito's body lay. Not only had Madara took the two tailed cat from her, he split her from sternum to crotch and left her like a gutted fish on the cold floor while he and Naruto fought on.

"You sick bastard!" Naruto growled and searched the shadows. The blinding pain hit him and he was lifted into the air by a silver hook, something he'd seen fishermen used as it erupted from his back exiting out of his chest.

"I tire of toying with you. I'll take the Kyuubi now boy. You can join your father in death."

(End Flashback)

Naruto's eyes seemed haunted and everyone was surprised when Anko knelt at his side and touched his arm, her fingers interlacing with his.

"There's nothing to fix." Naruto said. "The Shinigami has given me five years to say goodbye." He looked around the room. "It's a price I would pay again to make sure all of you are safe from the madness of Madara Uchiha."

Anko looked at the Hokage then. "After Naruto told me…I cancelled the anti-pregnancy jutsu and took the antidote to allow myself to conceive."

Tsunade looked shocked. Several of the women looked upset as well. "I told him that Konoha wouldn't survive without an Uzumaki." Anko looked at Naruto. "And if I can do anything for him, I will bear him children to carry on his legacy."

"I don't want to make a big deal about this." Naruto said. "I told Baa-chan because I needed her to know that I was retiring and why."

Sakura looked angry again.

"You might think its giving up, but I just want my last five years to be peaceful. I've fought my whole life and I just want to live my life for myself."

Discussions broke out. Hinata looked at her fiancé Shino Aburame. The silent communication between the two and Shino nodded his head in agreement. Hinata smiled at him.

Ino spoke with Choji who smiled and nodded.

Sakura was quiet, her eyes were on her blond teammate and sadness filled her heart as she had come to a decision and now it seemed that it had been made and taken away from her. she vowed to speak with the Hokage with her idea after the others had gone.

Anko had been pulled aside by Kurenai and Shizune, both were talking to her, asking her if this was really what she wanted.

"Yes." Was her simple answer that she gave them both.

"You'll need to come in Friday so I can perform a check up." Shizune said. Shizune thought to herself that if she wasn't currently pregnant then she might have done what Anko had in order to keep a part of Naruto around.

XX

Five Years later…

Naruto for the past week had felt tired, worn out and had started taking random naps.

He looked out and watched his children play.

Haku and Tsunami the eldest of his children from Anko. Both girls had their mothers hair and his eyes. Both sported light whisker marks on their cheeks and were as hyperactive as he'd been. Anko had told him that she hadn't been a quiet child either.

They were playing with their younger siblings, Han and Ani his twins from Hinata Aburame, both girls had their mother's features, but his sun kissed blond hair and whisker marks. They both had inherited their mothers lavender eyes and the Byakugan. Shino and Hinata had been unable to have children, Shino had been made sterile after being poisoned in his youth. His son Hiru was a year younger than the twins was his and Anko's third child while Kushina was a couple months older was his daughter with Ino. Choji and Ino hadn't been able to have children, it seemed the food pills that Choji consumed over the years made his sperm count exceedingly low.

Naruto turned his gaze to his other children. Kashi with his pink hair and blue eyes was his and Sakura's child. He was conceived the same week as Anko had become pregnant so their birth's were close.

Naruto looked on as Roshi and Toph his next set of children with Sakura were both three and they were as wild as Naruto had been. Kashi loved to read and would look at his siblings with annoyance when their roughhousing got too close.

Naruto looked to the shades spot where Anko sat with their youngest. Ruka was two, named after Iruka and their newborn Zane who was three weeks old now.

Naruto felt his eyes getting heavy and looked around.

"Is that you Boton?"

The woman seemed to appear out of a sunbeam. She had waist length blue hair. "Hello Naruto-kun." She said. Her pale white skin seemed to shine against the black clothes she wore. A simple crop tank top, hip hugging jeans and knee high boots.

"I suppose its time." He said. She nodded. "Will you give me a moment?"

She nodded again.

"Anko-hime." He called out. "Its time."

Anko seemed to move faster than the speed of light as she appeared at her husbands side.

Tears formed in her eyes.

"No tears love." Naruto said reaching out and using his thumb to wipe the tears aside. "We knew this day was coming."

The children seemed to understand and came forward.

"Tell the others its been a good life and I love you all." He said.

"Don't go daddy." Kashi said, his blue eyes spilling tears, all his children were crying now.

"I have to Kashi. Tell your mother…"

"I will." The boy said.

Naruto looked at Anko. "I love you, don't mourn me and forget to live."

Anko found herself choked up and unable to speak.

Naruto's eyes became a bit unfocused. "I love you all, listen to your mothers and be good. Know I am and always will be proud of you and will be watching you with grandma and grandpa."

Naruto turned his head to a space that was empty. "I'm ready…"

His eyes slowly drifted shut and as the sunset on the horizon Naruto Uzumaki age twenty-five died surrounded by his wife and children.

XX

Tsunade wept and looked at the village that would never know, or understand the price their peace had cost.

"It was too damn high." She muttered looking at the family photo taken at the birth of Zane. The whole family and extended family were in there and Naruto…

Tsunade scowled as the tears fell. The funeral had been held and while some of the villagers were too stupid and tried to disrupt it.

_Not that bright to attack a funeral full of ninja mourning the hero of us all._ Tsunade thought with disdain. The idiots that managed to live were given to Ibiki. Anko had to be removed by three squads of Anbu when she went from interrogating an idiot to down right torture, she'd finally been removed by Sakura and taken home with Anbu swearing to send Sakura a big thank you as they weren't sure if they could have safely taken Anko out without losing many of their number, not that they were really trying hard to protect the idiot. But they had to put in some effort.

Tsunade wiped the tearstains from the glass of the picture frame. A knock had her look up.

"Konohamaru? Is Hanabi okay?"

"She's fine Baa-chan." He said and froze. Only Naruto had been able to get away with that, and of course his children which all of them called her grandma.

"Nervous?" she asked brushing it aside after nearly two minutes of silence.

"Not really. I got to learn from the best after all." Konohamaru said, his eyes going to the picture on the desk. "Hanabi and I were talking and while we had originally planned on if it's a boy to call him after her father or my uncle, we both decided that if it's a boy we'd like to call him Naruto."

Tsunade smiled. "I think Anko and the others would love that." She said.

She sighed. "Ready to learn this brat?" she asked after several moments of silence.

Konohamaru sighed. "I am. I'll make my grandfather and Naruto proud and protect Konoha and all those precious to me."

Tsunade smiled softly.

_The price for peace was too high, but the next generation will continue to shine your example Naruto. Your family embodies the flames that my sensei spoke of and you embodied._ Tsunade said as she looked at the photo once more before she started training Konohamaru Sarutobi to take over in a year as the Seventh Hokage as while he'd never been, Naruto Uzumaki had been buried as the Sixth Hokage of Konohagakure as decreed by Tsunade and agreed upon by his family and friends.

END

**AN: This was a one shot that popped out of my brain while sitting in the waiting room of the hospital at three am when we went with my aunt whose husband passed away after a four year fight with heart problems. (Of course pointed this out to my dad that if he didn't start listening that could be him just as easily). It's a sad piece, but I guess this is where my mind was as I jotted it down. This is a one shot with nothing planned beyond this little that was written.**


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